She shrugged her shoulders. “Lots of bad memories here in this town and it was easier to run from them than to stay and deal with them. You don’t have the monopoly on being young and stubborn, Gabe. Then I met Jordan
in St. Louis and we moved in together. I thought finally I could settle down and have the life I always wanted but unfortunately I don’t inspire loyalty in people.”
“Ouch,” he said at that comment, knowing it was also a dig at him. “I’ve heard a little about this Jordan creep from Roy. He wanted to gather a posse and hang him from his—well you get the idea. I was the first to sign up but Ryan nixed the idea real quick.”
Karissa laughed at that picture. She would have enjoyed seeing that. “Yeah, Casey got lucky in love. Roy is a good, decent man that will take care of her and Jonathon. He’s been good to the both of us. I just never got that lucky in love, but I’m happy one of us did. Casey deserves it. She was always the responsible adult in our household when we were just kids and that wasn’t fair to her. Casey deserves nothing but happiness in her life from now on.”
Gabe nodded knowing of the two sisters’ bad childhood. Why had he been such a selfish idiot in the past? He had never considered all the people that had let Karissa down in her young life, he had only thought of what he had wanted. He knew she’d be hurt by his leaving but he figured she’d move on and find someone better. Settling down was not something he thought he could do. At least that’s what he’d told himself over and over. Leaving had been hard but he thought he would never be happy in civilian life. How wrong he had been. If only it was possible to go back and redo things.
Casey came over and interrupted their conversation, grabbing Karissa by the hand to meet some people that were new in town and leaving Gabe alone with his sad thoughts. He could give her that dream now but it was too late. She would never trust him or want to depend on him again.
“See you later, Gabe. I’m glad we talked,” Karissa said getting up and following Casey around the yard meeting the residents of her hometown. She ended up having a fun afternoon. Ethan White’s wife, Liz, owned a clothes boutique in town. She told Karissa she had moved into town three years ago from Chicago and loved living in Appledale. She was a petite, elegantly dressed blonde and Karissa promised to stop by her store and shop as soon as she got a day off. It was nice to have a clothes store in town, she told Liz excitedly.
Lacy Martinez-Clark was Ryan the sheriff’s wife and worked at Ally’s diner as a waitress. She was taller than Liz with long reddish brown hair falling in waves down past her shoulders and a curvy figure. She had been in town less than a year and had come from Detroit, Michigan. Both women were very friendly and made her feel comfortable in their company. Liz was expecting her first child in a few months, she announced, but Lacy hadn’t been married long and wanted to wait a while before having any kids.
“Yeah, well you’re still a kid yourself at twenty-five and can afford to wait. I’m thirty and my biological clock says, ‘Hurry it up, girl,’” Liz teased her, rubbing her small pregnant belly fondly.
Lacy pretended to be offended for a second but she laughed out loud and winked at Karissa and Liz. “My husband doesn’t think I’m a kid.”
Ryan and Ethan walked up behind them with grins on their faces. “You three ladies are having too much fun all alone.”
Lacy hugged her husband’s waist with her arms and leaned against him lovingly, looking up at him and batting her brown eyes at him. He was a tall, muscular, handsome man with short blond hair. “Liz was calling me a kid and I said you don’t think of me as a kid, right, baby?”
Ryan kissed his wife’s cheek and nipped her neck with his teeth, making her giggle. “Oh I can testify you are all woman, darlin’.” Lacy looked over at Liz with a superior smile as if saying, “See?” and made Karissa laugh at their antics.
“Quit causing trouble, angel. The food is finally done. Let’s go eat, me and junior are very hungry.” Ethan led his wife away to the food table.
They walked away with Ethan patting her rounded stomach and telling her she had to eat something.
“Come on, Karissa, let’s go get some food.” Lacy invited her and she followed them to the foldaway tables that had been set up and filled with delicious-looking food and drinks.
Karissa enjoyed the afternoon more than she thought she would, catching up with old friends and making new ones, and was glad Casey had forced her to come. Gabe hadn’t stuck around for long and she noticed his absence right away, much to her dismay. If she was going to stick around Appledale she needed to make friends and not be a hermit as Casey often accused her of being. Life went on despite heartache and pain. She had already learned that lesson.
Chapter 7
Gabe sat at the station the next night, leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk. He couldn’t do this in the daytime without Helen, the receptionist, getting after him. Tonight he was working the night shift with his brother Logan instead of Ethan. Ethan’s wife Liz was sick and he had traded shifts with Logan.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Karissa, he had missed her immensely over the years. He wanted a second chance with her or he knew he would always regret it. He never thought he would have the chance since she was living with her boyfriend in St. Louis.
“Gabe, I’ve been talking to you for a while now and you’re daydreaming.” Logan’s voice interrupted his thoughts about non-police business.
“Sorry,” Gabe said, putting his feet down and leaning forward, giving his brother his full attention. “What’s going on, Logan?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. I told you Harrison said he tracked those men he’s been following to the state campground. He has the sketch of the one that banged on Karissa’s window and he’s camping out there with two other men, pretending to be a fisherman,” Logan repeated. “You’ve been lost in your own world lately. Is it Karissa?”
Gabe nodded with a sad sigh, feeling down. Ever since the barbeque he couldn’t stop thinking about Karissa and wishing he could get her back, but he didn’t know how to start. This time he would appreciate her. He was old enough to know he would never find another woman who fit him so well. “She agreed to be friends with me, but I want more than that. I can’t just ask her out, though.”
“Why not?” Logan asked. “Just say, ‘Hey let’s go see a movie.’ I do it all the time and it works for me.”
Gabe glared at his younger brother’s blasé attitude. He was the oldest, wasn’t he supposed to give out dating advice? Who was he kidding, he told himself with a resigned sigh. Logan dated more women daily at twenty-five years than Gabe ever had in all his thirty-three years. Not that anyone had ever caused him to feel so deeply as Karissa did. “Because she’ll say no and who can blame her? I did break her heart but I regret that and want to make it up to her.”
Logan thought on it seriously for a while then answered Gabe. “Make up an excuse to see her and get her talking to you as a friend. That’s a big start. Get her comfortable being around you again.”
“How?” Gabe asked, then the phone rang and Logan answered and hung up looking at Gabe with a big grin. “Ask and you shall receive.”
“What?” Gabe said, confused. His brother made no sense sometimes.
“We’re needed at Thorn’s. There is a fight and you can make sure Karissa is okay, as a concerned friend, of course.”